Huntsman - Morgan Brice Page 0,67

it’s okay?” Liam asked. “My house is…not as private. I want to be away from everyone for a little bit. Jeffries talked to the committee, and they told me to take the rest of the week off.”

“I’d love to bring you home with me,” Russ assured him, privately glad Liam chose that option. “Besides, we have a much bigger bathtub.” He thanked fate that remodeling the bathroom had been one of the first projects he and Drew completed when they bought the house.

“That sounds really nice.”

Liam allowed Russ to steady him to get from the bed to the wheelchair. Russ figured Liam had every right to be a little shaky after what he’d been through and was grateful that he didn’t put up a fuss. He parked Liam’s wheelchair at the curb and went to retrieve his vehicle to pick him up.

“Drew brought the truck over,” he answered Liam’s unspoken question when he pulled up beside him. Russ eyed the high step to get into the cab. “You need a hand? Drew and I can go back and fetch your car once we get you settled.”

“I can manage,” Liam replied. “I think. And my car keys are in the pocket of the jeans I rolled up and stashed behind the restroom at the trailhead parking lot. You’ll need them.”

“We’ll get your clothes, the keys, and the car,” Russ assured him.

Russ hovered behind him, just in case, but Liam got himself into the truck, although Russ suspected it might have been sheer willpower. Liam dozed as they waited at the drive-thru pharmacy for his prescription, and Russ watched him sleep, feeling so grateful that they had both made it through the day alive.

For once he was almost sorry he didn’t have a long drive home. “We’re here,” he said, gently jostling Liam’s arm. Liam startled, waking up with wide, frightened eyes until he realized where he was.

“Sorry,” Russ said, angry at himself for scaring Liam.

Liam shook his head as if trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. “Don’t be. No matter how you woke me today, you’d probably get the same response.”

Russ went around to help Liam down, and this time, his boyfriend’s pride didn’t keep him from accepting a hand. “Just so you know,” Russ said, “Drew invited Noah to stay with us for a few days while he gets his wits about him.”

“Noah?” Liam’s brows furrowed.

“The Canadian Lynx? Turns out he actually is Canadian. Anyhow, Drew got assigned to help him when we left the shack, and Ty got to be the handler for the ocelot. Haven’t met him yet.”

Russ let them into the house and got their coats hung up in the front hall before leading Liam into the living room to settle on the couch, snuggled up against each other.

“The Huntsman put us in cages where we couldn’t have fit, even if we were able to shift,” Liam said, so quietly Russ almost missed it. “I think the lynx had given up.”

“He’d been there the longest,” Russ replied, tamping down his anger at the Huntsman, which served no purpose right now.

“The Huntsman had gone to get his truck and his ATV,” Liam continued, almost as if he hadn’t heard. “He planned to cart the cages down on the ATV, load everything into his hauler, and we’d be gone to Montana before anyone knew.”

Montana. He’d have vanished, and we would never have known what happened.

Liam looked up at Russ and put a hand over his heart. “I can feel your fear in my mind.”

“It’s the mate bond. It gets stronger with time.”

“And you’re reading me?”

Russ nodded. “Aftershocks. Tiredness. Guilt, like you didn’t do enough when you totally did,” he added with a pointed look.

“Whatever he did to ward the cabin, I couldn’t pick up anything from outside,” Liam said. “I tried to send a message through the bond, even though I was far away, but I couldn’t. And then when you came, I couldn’t sense you. I wasn’t even sure the key-finder would work.”

“That was clever,” Russ said, reaching over to push a lock of Liam’s hair out of his eyes. “My cunning fox.”

He leaned in to capture Liam’s mouth, gently at first, then with more fervor. He’d always seen people on TV who followed up on nearly dying with a frantic round of sweaty sex. Now that his adrenaline rush had crashed, Russ was far more in the mood for slow, lingering, cherishing sex, the kind that said “I love you” and “I almost lost you”